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17th Mar 2000

Independent News & Media successful in bid for Belfast Telegraph

Independent News & Media PLC ("IN&M") today announced that its bid for The Belfast Telegraph titles ("BTNL") has been successful. The bid is now subject to the consent of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Mr Stephen Byers, and notification to the Ministry for Enterprise, Trade and Employment of the Republic of Ireland. IN&M will purchase BTNL and its owned properties for consideration of Stg

BTNL is the leading newspaper publisher in Northern Ireland whose flagship titles are The Belfast Telegraph and The Sunday Life. On a weekly basis, BTNL publishes The Community Telegraph, Farm Trader and Ads for Free. BTNL also offers one of the UK's most advanced regional internet sites (http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk) with over two million page impressions per month.

In 1999, BTNL generated unaudited operating profit before management charges of Stg

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"Relentless attention to detail, relentless concentration on the competition and relentless concentration on the incredibly fast moving world of media availability."

Sir Anthony O'Reilly, Chief Executive